Journeybound
by greenLibra
Summary: Set in a medieval/fantasy au where aspects are the equivalent of magic. All eight kids end up going on different journeys and meet up with various trolls. Shenanigans ensue. ...I'm awful at writing summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Homestuck.**

* * *

John woke up with three gold points pressing into his chest. He had no idea how he had gotten to this point and almost had started to flip th- holy shit that hurt. So much for standing up… a young woman stood over him, holding a golden double trident- a 2x3dent?- and two fake golden horns poking out through a fuchsia bandanna. There was a wicked gleam in her eyes as she straightened up to speak, never taking her trident completely off his chest.

"hey everyone, windy buoy's up"…was that a fish pun? Before John could do anything, other voices from somewhere else on the-…ship? How did he get on a ship?-chimed in.

",,,I still don't,,, uh, see why you need another,,, uh,,,-" a boy's voice started to stutter out a complaint before someone else interrupted condescendingly.

"Oh come oooooooon, tavros" the girl's voice drawled out, a smirk obvious in her tone, "you can't do anything harder than shuffling Aranea's papers."

"You did what with my stories?"

"Please, they were so booooooooring"

"The intricate social structure and fascinating romance laws of-"

"Aranea, nomoby glubbin cares"

With a bit of shuffling, three others gathered around John, who honestly felt really awkward forced to lay there while everyone else was standing. After what he assumed was a harsh glance from one of the newcomers, the fish-pun girl took her trident off of him, grumbling. John pulled himself to his feet and finally got a good look at everyone. Everyone seemed fairly tan from time spent in the sun, but only two of them- were they sisters?- looked as if that was their natural skin color. They both had glossy dark hair that fell in messy waves and curls as well as similarly colored and patterned outfits. One was wearing a huge black hat that hid her face, and for whatever reason, John couldn't escape the feeling that he knew these people.

To their right stood a fidgeting boy, who looked incredibly nervous and even more so resentful. His faded green tunic and leggings were at odds with the oversized Viking helmet pulled over his mohawk. It was a wonder that the two huge bull horns attached to its sides hadn't caused the poor guy to fall over yet, especially considering the wooden leg braces he seemed to rely on.

Surprisingly, John noticed the girl who had originally held him captive last, and even a glimpse at her left him baffled on how so many shiny objects could go unnoticed. He squinted, blind from the sun's glare on numerous gold piercings and other adornments. He counted at least fi-six-no, seven rings and studs just on her face. On top of that, her trident, and weird horn-shaped-crown-thing (he honestly had no idea what to call that), she had bangles everywhere that made an obnoxious clinking noise at any large movement.

Yep. John was thoroughly weirded out by these people.

A wave hit the boat, reminding him of where he was. "So are you guys like pirates or something?" his normally chipper voice is only slightly shaky, and he offhandedly regrets that such an admirable effort didn't affect his prankster's gambit in any way.

The girl wearing the hat flips her hair (why did that gesture feel so familiar?) and smirks, drawing attention to her blue-painted lips. "Of course we are" her smirk grows, and she bares her teeth slightly, "when it comes to pirates, we're simply the best there is"

That voice. He knew that voice, almost as well as he knew the joke the stranger(?) had just made. It was an inside joke, one he hadn't heard since before his sister had been kidnapped, but this couldn't be the same person, right?

His face must have shown signs of this particular inner monologue, because the girl's smirk grew into a full, knowing grin. She pulled her hat off, revealing blue painted eyes. One of them had seven pupils.

Vriska?

"Hey John, remem8er me?"

* * *

**Well, sorry for the short chapter. I'll be posting another one really soon, and that one should be longer. This is my first time posting a fic on here, so I'd really like to hear what everyone thinks about this.**


	2. Chapter 2

Jane Peixes used to live by the sea.

Now, she usually lived under it. Kinda funny how that had turned out, really.

Maybe six years ago, although it was probably more, she had lived in an island village with her brother, John, and their two cousins, Jade and Jake. Looking back on it, she definitely had a great, carefree life back then, but that was before she discovered her gift. Most people didn't have gifts, and although such abilities should be blessings, many ended up more like a curse. Common people feared and shunned those with gifts, but at the same time they were all too happy to use them for personal gain. Even if someone was lucky enough to be born with a gift, they usually lived their lives in hiding and oppression. It wasn't exactly Jane's idea of the perfect life, that's for sure.

Usually, a person's gifts manifested once they turned thirteen (leaving them still fairly vulnerable to those trying to exploit their abilities), but every once in a while, special circumstances would trigger an early development- usually near death experiences, but the occasional death/revival wasn't completely unheard of either. As it just so happens, Jane was one of those special circumstances. (Why else would it be brought up in this exposition flashback?)

She couldn't have been older than seven or eight years old when it happened. Aradia, the daughter of a travelling merchant, had agreed to take her and Jake on a quick 'adventure' into some small caves, promising that she would keep the two younger kids safe. She didn't, but it wasn't her fault. Nobody could have predicted the earthquake that came almost out of nowhere, and nobody could have possibly evacuated the two kids out in time. If anything, she had kept them away from most of the damage that followed. Right before the tunnel caved in, she had shoved the two out of the way, bearing the brunt of the crushing rockslide.

It wasn't enough.

When the rubble cleared, Jake was hardly breathing, and Aradia was nowhere to be seen, buried under the massive pile of rocks. Jane was dead, if only for a short time. That was one of the few good things of having gifts that fell into the Life aspect, she supposed, although it would probably be dumb to test her luck.

Although she was able to heal Jake, Aradia was long gone.

The Traders came the next day.

How they managed to sniff out a gifted kid so fast was a mystery, but Jane was snapped up right before the entire village's eyes. Nobody could do anything about it. She was tossed on a ship and would probably have been sold to some rich doctor as a 'secret cure' for his patients if it wasn't for the storm. It struck right when she had given up any hope for escape. Being inside of the ship, she didn't see much, but the sound of rain and the tremendous lurches of the boat gave her a clear picture of what was happening.

It could have been hours or simply seconds, but her head slammed against something hard, and she blacked out.

* * *

The events that came next frequently made her question whether or not she had suffered brain damage.

Jane woke up in a cave lit by jars filled with water that glowed an eerie blue, but there was no sun or moon in sight. All along the oddly smooth cave walls, ridges held even more bottles and jars. It with a pang of homesickness, she remembered the village Healer's hut. A soft lapping noise drew her attention to the other end of the cavern, where turquoise water filled what was probably a small indent in the smooth floor. Oddly enough, there was no exit in sight.

Shakily-apparently the storm had left her in less than perfect condition- she pulled herself up and went to get a closer look at the pool. It was deeper than she expected, and the water smelled vaguely salty, not unlike the beach back at home. Peering down, she still couldn't see the bottom.

The next thing she knew, there was a person looking back up at her. Jane lurched backwards, falling onto her back. When she had picked herself up, a young girl was surfacing sheepishly. She didn't look much older than Jane, honestly, her early teens at the very most. A huge mass of soaking wet black locks half-obscured her face, and a gold circlet seemed to be the only thing attempting to hold them back. It may have been the lighting, but her skin looked almost grayish aside from a faint pink-purple tint. Two fuchsia horns poked out from the top of her he- wait, what.

Magical beings were hardly unheard of, but this was definitely not what Jane expected. The strange girl pulled her hair back from her face, revealing two fin-like structures near her cheeks, and grinned warmly. To Jane's relief, her teeth were definitely not fanged. "Sorry if I scared you," she said in an unbelievably friendly tone, her words carrying an odd trill.

Jane spluttered incomprehensibly. Children were taught to fear creatures like these, just like they were taught to fear anyone who was gifted.

"I'm Feferi. Can you talk?" It was a weird question but a valid one. Up until that point, Jane had done little besides uselessly framing words.

She nodded. "I'm Jane" she managed to say, then gasped as a movement under the water caught her eye. Feferi had a fish tail, meaning that she must be a mermaid.

That would explain the gills and the horns.

"Where am I?" she was kind of scared to know the answer.

"Underwater. You were drowning, and I had to do the life-y thing to keep you from being krilled"

"You can do...?" she trailed off and looked down at her hands, watching the green aura that symbolized Life surface a bit before forcing it to fade away again.

Feferi nodded perkily "And I know you can, too. That's why I was able to heal you"

* * *

That was years ago. By now, Feferi had become somewhat of an older sister to Jane. The two had tried as hard as they could to find her old home, but it was no use. John and their dad had probably relocated by now in fear of John being kidnapped because of her.

Jane had originally stayed in the cave most of the time, but that grew boring fast. Between Feferi, a self-proclaimed witch, and her older sister, who had a real gift for potions, a potion for temporary gills was quickly developed. By now, Jane spent most of her days with Feferi, using the specialized trident with a paddle on the other end to hunt. Feferi's older sister would stop by occasionally, but usually she was off 'playing pirate', whatever that meant.

Today, however, she was supposed to be stopping by with a surprise of some sort. Honestly, that was a bit worrying, but Jane was pretty curious.

A shadow passed over the water, and Jane looked up to see a huge ship passing by. Feferi glubbed excitedly. "That must be her!"

* * *

**Well, this probably won't end well... I'm not sure when I can next update, but hopefully it'll be soon. I'm also probably going to post this on AO3 once I finish the illustrations for it.**


	3. Chapter 3

Rose Lalonde lived her entire life in sheltered luxury, and it was awful. Being the daughter of a wealthy, distant, and alcoholic Dutchess was hard, especially for someone who had been neck deep in the magic Arts long before she showed any signs of possessing a gift. It was hard and nobody understood.

Even her twin sister, Roxy, seemed to be more content with her life, despite the fact that the only difference in her circumstances was her particular brand of magic. Roxy was the lighthearted one, always up for a drink that she could never quite manage responsibly and laughing everything off. Fittingly, she had fallen into the path of a Rogue wizard and used her magic for more lighthearted tasks. Not just once had a passing guest been snuck up on by the invisible Rogue, and such occasions rarely ended in anything but trouble.

Rose was different. Despite her gift's Light aspect, her magic waxed dark as could be. Despite her natural abilities as a talented Seer, she often explored more active applications of her abilities, even using her Seer powers to form communications with eilrich beasts that could only be described as horrorterrible. It was all too easy for her to slip just a little bit and be overwhelmed by her connections. Many times, she had to be locked in a room until her throes subsided enough for her to be seen by others. Even then, it was sometimes days later before the black wisps dissipated completely, and she returned to speaking a recognizable language.

Still, Rose experimented, despite knowing full well how it made everyone but Roxy fear her. Truth be told, she was often jealous of her twin and the positive attention she usually drew. It genuinely hurt her to know that her regularly inebriated sister was the favorite of the entire manor instead of her. She knew it was selfish, but she could be a selfish person, and she could be easily led to do selfish things like bitter displays of passive-aggression.

Finally, after a particularly long and dangerous 'episode' (as her mother called it. Roxy simply said that Rose had gone batshit crazy), the Dutchess decided that enough was enough. One evening at dinner, she announced to the twins that they were both going to someone who could formally train them in their respective gifts. The reaction was instantaneous and completely unexpected: Roxy choked on her drink, grinning once she caught her breath, and Rose actually smiled. This was it. This was when she finally got her freedom.

This was completely ridiculous.

Rose wasn't sure what she was expecting when she passed through the first village on her way to her new mentor, but it wasn't this. Everywhere she looked, people jeered, glared, or just watched with terrified expressions as she passed them. It was a known fact that magic and gifts were feared by the general, ignorant public, but she hadn't expected them to be this vocal about it. Although she kept her bearing, Roxy was visibly shaken, and she nudged her in reminder that they needed to keep their composure and present a calm facade when in public.

To provide distraction from the crowd, the girls listened attentively to their escort-a small, pale woman dressed in a multi-layered pastel dress with a sash tied around her head. Calamais, their instructor, was the only member of The Complacency who was truly neutral and the only wizard in the known world who taught multiple pupils at once. Not only that, he taught both humans and other species. Plus, he was truly an excellent host.

When the carriage arrived at their new 'home', Rose was taken aback by the rundown shack that greeted them. For someone who taught multiple adolescents powerful and often destructive Arts, Calamais hadn't chosen the most... suitable living space. Rose seriously doubted the hut would even provide room for one person.

The two girls followed their escort to the 'door', feeling incredibly out of place in their lavish clothes. The door opened without even a knock, and a tall figure in dark green garb stood at the front of a chessboard-esque hall that lead into a preposterous amount of rooms. That explained a lot, actually. Behind the person (was it a boy or a girl, anyway?), two others approached, one tall and lanky, the other slender and elegant. It may have been the lighting, but her skin was ashy gray looking and seemed to glow a tiny bit.

Calamais cleared his/her throat and spoke in a neutral, refined voice, "Welcome, Rose, Roxy. A good host never should keep their guests waiting, but I am afraid that I must until my other two pupils are present to show you to your rooms."

Rose simply nodded.

* * *

**Wow. I had no idea it was so much fun to write from Rose's perspective. Just as a side note, since there wasn't much about Calamais' personality in Homestuck, I'm basing him/her a bit off of Scratch, but that's about it. I'm mostly coming up with their personality as I go.**

**Does anyone know if Calamais is supposed to be a boy or a girl? I think it said somewhere they're androgynous, but I'm not sure.**


	4. Chapter 4

After years of training, Dave Strider had finally been assigned his first real mission. His brother, despite his high position, refused to speed things up and actually made him wait longer than the average Knight normally had to for this. Dirk had to climb his way to the top, and there was no way that he would let accusations of favoritism be the thing to drag him down. As much as Dave understood this, he couldn't help but feel resentful. Even without his powerful gift when it came to Time, he was one of the best fighters in the kingdom, maybe only outmatched by Dirk.

Today, however, he was able to put his resentment behind him for the time being. While he didn't exactly jump up and down in excitement, it took a bit more effort than normal for Dave to keep his expression neutral. Taking a deep breath and wishing not for the first time that he had something to cover his eyes or face with, he swung open the door to the main strategy room, which was littered with maps and diagrams, most focusing on the kingdom's outermost defenses.

Dirk stood in behind a table, his chair ignored behind him, and at his side was an offficial everyone called A.R. Dave nodded his head in greeting, and A.R. cleared his throat impatiently.

"Lately there has been a series of attacks on posts in the furthest ring of defense." That would explain all the maps, Dave thought as AR continued his de-briefing: "The attackers destroy everything and everyone, leaving no trace of who they are other than a single pool ball, sometimes two."

"And you're sending me in to fight them? Look, I know I'm good, but the last thing we need is a bunch of dead Daves showing up everywhere" Dirk smirked slightly at Dave's interruption but let AR answer it.

"No. As much as I would like to see those criminals in the sl-" He stopped, probably trying to keep himself from letting one of his odd expressions slip out, and Dirk took over.

"We can't pin them down. No sign of them attacking until they're already there, and by then there's no chance of reinforcements. We need you to provide intimidation. Do you remember how Vantas left a couple months ago?"

"If this is a rescue mission, I'm going to do an acrobatic f-"

"There are no rescue missions. As far as everyone else knows- even both of the Queens- this never happened. Vantas has been...recruiting some of the more sentient beasts from outside of the furthest ring to serve as scouts. You will be doing a similar mission, although we have a different target in mind."

Before Dirk can continue, Dave interrupts again, irritated at what seemed like a ridiculous mission, "So you're telling me I need to go recruit fairies for some magical backup army?"

"No." Dirk unrolls a sheet of paper. On it is a diagram of terrifying monster with huge leathery wings and a powerful body covered in scales. "We're asking you to recruit a dragon."

"What."

AR speaks up again "We've gotten reports of one that seems to prefer talking over immediate death only a week's journey outside of the furthest ring. It's a clever one, though, so watch out for that."

"How the hell am I supposed to just walk up to a dragon and have a nice cozy chat with it and not get myself killed?"

In response, Dirk slammed down a huge sack of what looked to be various precious gemstones. "This. Give them enough treasure, and dragons will usually hear you out before deciding whether or not to eat you" That was not reassuring in the least...

AR continued "Dragons always have at least one thing that they're drawn to and motivated by. We need you to find out what this one's is and use it as a bargaining tool, no matter the cost."

"As long as it doesn't endanger the kingdom, that is" Dirk added quickly.

Dave nodded. He had understood that a time like this would come since before he started training. "When do I leave?"

* * *

**So this is the start (sorta) of the actual plot/storyline here... I promise I'll get back to John, Vriska, and Jane once I actually figure out what's going to happen. I've already started on the next chapter, so hopefully it'll be up sooner than later. If you have any comments (or suggestions) to make, please feel free to review. :)**


End file.
